Star Struck
by fireflash166
Summary: AU Darien Shields is a rising actor, He has everything fame, riches, and his lovely wife Serena. But what's happening behind closed doors? How will Serena deal with her husband's journey to destroy himself?will she pick him back up? or let him fall?
1. How it all began

Summary : AU Darien Shields is a rising actor in Hollywood, He has everything fame, riches, and his lovely wife Serena. But what's happening behind closed doors? How will Serena deal with her husband's journey to destroy himself?, will she pick him back up? Or leave him to fall?

**Authors note**: **Ok so I felt like I owed a Sailor Moon fanfic to this site because well I've read almost all of them. So not sure how the story will go with people, it's alternate universe no Sailor scouts or negaverse stuff because I can't do that justice. But here is a story about my two favorite fictional characters of all time. Hope you enjoy! Please Review!**

Darien Shields walked out of the limo greeted by flashing lights and cries of admiration. He gave them his famous smile which made the girls melt to their knees. He looked around at his adoring fans and turned to help his beautiful wife out of the limo. She was the women all others envied. Being married to one of the most successful young actors of the century is only the start of their envy, she had beautiful fair skin and long golden blonde hair which she mostly wore in pink tails, it was once said that only she could pull of pink tails as a sophisticated look. Her smile travelled all the way to her beautiful blue eyes, she was one of the girls who wore little make-up because she could attract anyone without it.

She was just the kind of women that would be expected to be with a man such as Darien Shields. But they didn't know, they didn't know what her life was really like, what she had to live with behind closed doors. They just assumed she lived the perfect life, perfect job as a model, perfect loving husband, and it used to be, but that was before.

As he guided her down the red carpet arm around her waist, waving to his admiring fans, behind her smile, her mind wandered wondering when everything began to crumble….

**O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Serena Jones was the heiress to the Jones Modeling agency, and when she turned 18 her father allowed her to begin her dream of modeling. She had just had her first show and it had been a huge success. The girls decided to take her out to celebrate at her favorite restaurant. It was there and then that she first met Darien.

"Oh my god Sere you were amazing!" Mina was more ecstatic than Serena herself.

"Aw thanks Mina! I was so nervous, I thought I'd fall off the stage!" She could still feel the anxiety rushing through her veins.

"Serena you did wonderfully" her friend Ami chimed in. All of her friends gave equal praise as they took their seats. She found herself in deep conversation with fellow model Rei about how they thought the next show could be better, and who'd they'd love to model for next that she almost didn't hear the waiter come and introduce himself.

"Good evening ladies, my name is Darien and I will be your server today, what can I start you ladies of to drink?" She turned to order her iced tea when she saw the face of the man that had just spoken. They shared a moment of being entranced with each other before the others started ordering their drinks taking his attention back to the other girls. She ordered her tea and he went to get their drinks and give them time to order.

All of the girls squealed quietly over how handsome he had been. The only girl in the group that seemed to be silent about it was Serena.

"Don't you agree Sere?" Mina's voice took Serena's attention away from the knife and fork she had been fiddling with.

"Hmm? Agree with what?" He obliviousness had them all in a fit of giggles.

"We were saying that our waiter is a hunk." Lita said with the suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows.

Serena found herself blushing a bit. "Oh, I mean he's ok, I didn't really notice."

"Bull!" Rei gave her a knowing grin and then motion with her eyes to everyone that their waiter was returning with their drinks.

"Here you go ladies" He handed them their drinks and took their orders, then with a short lingering glance at Serena left to turn in their orders.

The girls continued their dinner with no further discussion of Darien. It wasn't until it was time to pay the bill that he was brought up again.

"You should leave him you're number." Mina said to Serena with a grin. All of the girls agreeing in unison.

"What? No, I don't even know the guy, and besides, I'd come across desperate." She slightly admitted to wanting to see more of the cute waiter.

They continued to pester her until they realized they were never going to break her. She gave a sigh of relief after they all gave up.

"Fine, have it your way." Rei said as she called to Darien asking for the check.

After a while the group came to the restaurant more often and coincidentally always had Darien as their waiter.

They began to converse with him, getting to know him better. Serena was always the one with few words but she always found herself admiring him. She liked talking with him when she did though, he was very easy to talk to, she was just afraid she'd start talking to much or get too nervous and talk nonsense.

**O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0**

On the day of her third runway show, Serena was the star model. She started the show and ended the show with the best pieces. In the end she announce the charity that all of the proceeding would go to, thanking everyone for their donations and gave thanks.

Her father came back stage to give her a warm hug and told her how great she had been. He was a very busy man but he always made time for her. He never missed a birthday or even a show. She felt very blessed, she knew that Rei had only seen her father maybe once a year if even that, he was a CEO of a big hotel industry. It didn't seem to bother Rei that much but Serena wondered if she'd have survived in a life like that.

Rei approached her after her father took his leave for his meeting in Japan.

"You had an admirer out there tonight!" she said in a singing voice.

Serena looked at her with a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Rei gave her a huge grin, "Well I might have sort of gave Darien passes to the show, and invites to the after party."

"What? Why?" Serena found herself horrified that Darien had been watching the whole time, what if she had messed up?

"Whoa…I didn't realized you hated the guy. Oh come on ya'll are always flirting at the restaurant, I know you have a crush on him and I'm pretty sure he likes you, especially with the way he was watching you tonight! Come on get ready for the party!" With that Rei ran off to get dressed for the after party, leaving Serena speechless.

Serena changed into a gold dress with roman loose sleeves that had holes in the arm that went from the top shoulder to the end of the sleeve at her elbow. It almost reminded her of the style the roman women wore all those years ago. She had matching gold pumps and wore her hair up in a bun for once with random strands hanging down around her face.

She was nervous, she had never seen Darien outside of his work. She admits she had always wanted to get to know him better but she'd had like a little bit more time to prepare.

She took a deep breath and walked out into the party. The party was hosted by her company so it was only appropriate that everyone applauded as she entered. She always found this too much but everyone always insisted. She calmed the applause down with a motion of her hand and gave another speech but this one more personal, seeing as she knew almost everyone in the room well.

She walked around and conversed with old friends. She looked around to see if she could spot him anywhere but no matter where she looked he seemed absent. Maybe he decided not to come.

She then felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned to be face to face with the man she had been searching for.

"Darien." She said, with a little more excitement in her voice than she would have liked. She blushed a little when he smiled big at her enjoying the fact that she seemed to be happy to see him.

"Hey, You were amazing out there!" His complements only made her blush more. She smiled as she took in his appearance. He was wearing black slacks and a nice white button up shirt with the first few buttons undone, showing off just enough chest. His hair fell freely down his face just barely above his eye. He looked perfect.

They continued to talk the whole night, her attention was only torn away when mina came with a man who was later introduced as Darien's roommate whom he had allowed to tag along, Andrew. He was good looking and seemed very sweet but Serena's attention was still directed towards Darien.

Darien never glanced at anyone other than her at the party. It somewhat amazed her, there were so many beautiful girls at this party and yet somehow this hot guy is paying attention to her and only her. This was a first for her, and she liked it, she liked it a lot.

Darien stayed with her till the party was over and walked her back to her apartment.

"You know I had a really great time." He said as they approached the entrance to her building.

She smiled back at him "I did too, I never knew you like fashion."

He gave a soft chuckle and looked down to the ground. "To be honest, I've never really been that into fashion, I mean it's great! Don't get me wrong, but that's not why I… I mean, well…. I um came so I could see you.."

He had trouble fumbling with his word and his cheeks were red with embarrassment but Serena only felt that made him cuter.

"Really?"

"Yah, I sort of have a crush on you." His embarrassed demeanor quickly morphed into one of confidence in a matter of seconds. It amazed Serena that he could say something like that so coolly.

She smiled and looked down to her shoes and then back into his eyes. She had never been daring in her life but here she was with a guy who just blurted out that he likes her and doesn't show the least bit of regret or uneasiness. He's just admiring her…why not

She took a step closer to him. "You want to know a secret?" Her voice was low and seductive as her eyes followed suit, he suddenly became speechless and it made Serena almost laugh how she had that effect on him.

He was frozen as she approached. She stood on her tip toes and put her lips to his, it was a soft short kiss but it was heaven for the both of them.

"I sorta have a crush on you too"

**O0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

They went on a few dates after that and then a became an official couple.

Serena couldn't remember being so happy before in her life. They continued to date for a year and then on their anniversary Darien asked her to move in with him.

By that time Andrew had moved out and moved in with his girlfriend who had apparently been over seas.

Darien's career had started up, he'd been getting a few spots here and there on a few tv shows and he could quit his job as a waiter. Their relationship was wonderful. Serena was growing in her modeling career as well as training to take over her father's company and Darien was on the road to greatness.

After another year of living together both knew that they were the ones for each other. Any one you asked would say that Serena was head over heels in love with Darien and that Darien had only eyes for Serena.

He treated her like a princess every day. She was his world and he was hers.

No matter how busy work made them they always set aside time for the other. They were perfect for each other.

It was their third anniversary that Darien finally proposed. He waited outside Serena's work with a limo and rose in hand to surprise her. Drove her to her newly found favorite restaurant and went back to a rose petal covered apartment, where he got on one knee and popped the question.

There was no hesitation. Serena said yes right away and they were married within six months of the proposal. They chose to have a small wedding with only their closet family and friends.

They were the perfect newlyweds. Everything was perfect, that is until it started.

Only a few months after they were married Darien got a call from a big Hollywood agency. They were interested in making him one of their clients and getting him started on the big screen. He was hesitant to leave his small agency who had help him though the tough times but after a lot of consideration and a pep talk from his wife he decided to accept the offer.

When Serena first met Darien's new agent, Diamond, she thought he was a nice guy. He was kind to her and considerate to any of Darien's request with work. It wasn't until Darien had done his first big movie that the true color's started to show.

It was at the after party of the premiere. Serena had left Darien's side for a moment to use the ladies room and came back to find Diamond pushing a busty brunette into Darien as if trying to get them both lucky for the night.

Serena stormed up to the group and grabbed Darien's arm gracefully giving him a smile as she saw his apologetic look. He was like a lost puppy, he'd never be ungentlemanly towards a lady, but in Serena's books this girl was too drunk and loose to be considered a lady.

"Can I help you?" She asked the brunette and Diamond chimed into her rescue

"I'm sorry Sere, this is Ann, and she's a fan of Darien's. I told her I'd could let her meet him, she's just excited that's all." He gave them a smile and then walked away with Ann in his arms.

Serena's eyes followed them with an eyebrow raised, why did she not believe a word he just said.

Darien put his head on her shoulder in defeat and brought her attention back to him. "Uh, thank you so much, I didn't know how to handle that one." He looked at her with weary eyes.

She smiled at him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You don't have to handle those, that's why you married me, to scare away all the potential obsessed stalker fans." She always knew how to make him laugh.

"Ah, I knew there was a reason." He bent down to give her a kiss which gradually grew heated.

"Ready to ditch this party and start one of our own at home?" he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

She laughed and gave him an encouraging look. They started to walk away.

"Oh, shoot, I left my favorite lipstick in the bathroom, I'll be right back I promise."

She walked back to the ladies room and found her lipstick right where she left it. Just as she was about to walk out she heard a pair of voices. One she recognized to be Diamond, the other assumed to be Ann's.

"Dia! You said I could get him in bed!" the girls whiney voice was more of a screech. Serena stopped where she was knowing it was wrong to listen in but something in her gut told her to listen.

"I know, I know, but he's a married man."

"That's never stopped me before." Whoa!, Was she talking about Darien?

"He's newly married, give him a few more months and he'll grow tired of her and he'll be happy to accept every beauty like you that will come his way."

Their voices began to fade away and Serena left to find Darien when she was sure the coast was clear. She told him all about what she had overheard and furious Darien confronted Diamond.

Diamond admitted that he was talking to Ann and that he had been talking to Darien but explained that he only said those things to calm her down and hopefully get her to rest her case. He thought that she would continue to stalk Darien through the night if he didn't.

Darien saw this to be a reasonable explanation and Serena had to admit that it made sense but she still couldn't help but feel uneasy when it came to Diamond from that moment on.

And with good reason, things just got worse from there. Darien began to star in more movies and become more popular. Serena's modeling career was up the roof, and she even started her own clothing line to coincide with the modeling company. She would always set aside time for them but it seemed that every time they both were free, Diamond would call Darien up with a life or death career emergency.

One day Serena came home from work early. Darien had a meeting with one of the producers of the new film he'd be staring in. It was a dream role of Darien's something he'd pictured himself playing ever since he started acting and she knew how nervous he was about getting this job. To congratulate her wonderful husband she made him his favorite homemade dinner as a surprise for when he came home. She lit the candles at the dinner table and had the bath ready to be drawn for a nice romantic night.

She waited for him to come home, dressed in her sexy red dress with her hair down. She sat in the chair looking at the meal placed in front of her and continued to wait for him to return. After two hours she gave up and covered both the plates so that they could be re-heated later. And moved over to the coach after blowing the candles out.

She laid there for almost another two hours staring at the clock across from her before she fell asleep. She woke up with a start when she heard a bang from the entrance way. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 5 in the morning. Was Darien just getting home?

She ran to the entrance way and found her husband crouched over holding his knee in pain.

"What happened?" Serena said with a start as she got a good look at his appearance. His new suite was ruined, drenched with what smelt like alcohol. The sleeves were torn at the shoulder, his tie was nowhere to be found. His hair was all over the place.

He looked up to see Serena. He looked up and his eye's gave a drunken admiration.

"Aw, baby! My wife, you look so beautiful!, I love the dress. The door just hit my knee." He moved closer to her to give her a great big wet kiss. She repelled away quickly after smelling something more than alcohol. She examined his eyes and stared in amazement.

"Oh my God, are you high?" her voice rose with disbelief

"Shhh, no, I got the job baby! I just went with the dia and bob to celebrate, I didn't do anything they didn't do!" His words were slurred and he began to look very dizzy.

Serena decide that they'd fight this battle in the morning and right now she needed to make sure he didn't kill himself.

The next day she found out that the producer, bob, and Diamond had insisted on taking Darien out to celebrate like real celebrities do. He had met a few popular actors and somehow was convinced to smoke something he didn't even know what it was. He was so nervous he did it without thinking, then the boys got him drunk enough and took him to a strip club where he apparently lost his tie…

For some reason Serena was more mad at Diamond than Darien, and she told him what she thought. She asked Darien not to go with Diamond to parties anymore but his excuse was he had to. If he wanted the job her had to meet people, if he wanted to meet people he would find the people at parties, and Diamond knew what parties to find the right people. They had this fight multiple times but neither ever gave in.

Serena loved the times where Diamond would be out of town and Darien would spend his night at home with her, loving her like he had before. It was times like those that she could almost pretend that they were the young couple they had once been.

As Darien's fame grew so did his time with Diamond. He came home wasted more times than not. At times she could tell he was high. It scared her thinking about what he might be taking. She wished that he would tell her where he'd go before. She began to pray every night that he would come home to her alive.

Every time she'd bring up the fact, he'd brush her off tell her she wouldn't understand. Most women probably would have left him at this point, but not her, she took a vow, and she took it because she loved this man with all her heart and that still hadn't changed.

It got really bad when she stared working with her new business partner, Seiya. She started staying late with the clothes line and company business and she'd come home to Darien high off of something demanding to know where she'd been.

"I've been at work." She said with a sigh, seeing his non-sober state.

"Really? Don't lie to me Sere!" His voice began to raise as he nearly jumped out of his seat. He was standing tall now and he was angry, she could see it in his eyes.

Without tearing his eyes from hers he through some papers towards her feet. She looked down to them and grabbed them. They were pictures of her with Seiya at business brunches and coffee breaks.

"You were with him! Weren't you!" His voice began to tremble with anger.

She began to tear up, never seeing this side of him before but kept her voice steady.

"This is Seiya, my new business partner, he's helping with the fashion line and joining it with daddy's business."

"Oh I bet! So now you have a boy toy who cares about the husband you have at home?"

Serena lost all of her patients at that moment and let her own anger out.

"Really? You're accusing me of being unfaithful? Seiya is no boy toy, he's my business partner, nothing more. You are my husband and I am faithful, something I'm not sure could be said about you! You say I have a husband here waiting for me? Really? When? Please tell me because for the past year I have been waiting for him to come home every night! Only for him to stumble in at late hours in the morning high and drunk!"

He tears of anger were now falling freely down her face.

"OH don't start that again! I'm doing what I need to do to get where I need to be in my career! You wouldn't understand! I wasn't born into the business, I wasn't given a free ride! I worked and fought for where I am!"

Serena couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"I worked for where I am! Don't you dare say I didn't. I went to school I studied for my career and I got the job I deserved! The only time I ever looked to my father for help was with the charities!"

"Yah, you got the job you deserved, because you had the money! You still make more than me! Is that why Seiya's joined the picture? This charity case of the poor boy husband marrying the rich heiress getting old?"

"You have nerve! How dare you! Maybe I should leave! I'm sure Seiya would sure as hell treat me better than you are right now!"

"SHUT UP!" His veins were popping out of his forehead from anger as he grabbed the closes thing next to him, which just happened to be a glass vase.

The glass flew everywhere as the vase shattered. He had thrown it so hard the shard of glass reached Serena's face. It was a small cut but enough to let the blood flow down her cheek.

The sight of her blood seemed to sober Darien up. There was nothing in his eyes but regret now. He stared at her wanting to go to her but she lifted her hand warning him away.

"Sere…" there was little left of his voice. She could see the tears form in his eyes.

"Don't… I'll be at Mina's" and with those words she left him there to drown in his sorrows.

She told Mina about the fight but lied about the cut on her face. She said that she had run out in so much anger that she had fallen and cut her face. Mina not believing Darien could ever harm Serena, believed this lie.

Serena returned home he next morning to see the glass cleaned up from the floor and Darien lying on the coach in slumber. As she moved towards their room she heard him start to stir.

"Sere? Baby is that you?"

She turned to see him quickly rising from the coach and he ran to her grabbing her into a smothering hug.

"Baby! I'm so sorry! I'm so so sorry! I didn't mean it! I didn't mean any of it!" He moved away to examine her face. "OH shit, I'm sorry! I would never hurt you! Oh God, what have I done."

She looked into his eyes and saw the deepest regret and he silently pleading with her for forgiveness.

What could she do? She loved him.

"This has to stop. No more drinking, no more drugs. It's done, Ok? No more, promise me that?" she could barely speak because of all the emotions she was feeling at this moment, but she forced those words to come out. Her tears began to fall again as she became the one pleading him.

He saw her tears and nodded. "It's over. No more, I'm done with that stuff from now on! I won't lose you! I'm going to go back to being the man you married."

And with those words he sealed his promise with a desperate kiss. But why did those words feel so empty to her…

**O0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

And now, here she is a week later, walking hand in hand with him down the red carpet. His new premiere.

She put on a façade for his colleagues and fans but deep down she was still hurting. The scar on her face had faded and was easily hidden with make-up.

But her mind kept wondering back to the promise he had made to her a week ago.

So far he had kept his promise. And he had done everything to make sure she was ok. He came home early, cooked her food, and bought her flowers. She accepted all half-heartedly wondering how long it would last.

And as she scanned the crowds of adoring fans pawning for her husband all that run through her mind was his promise, and all the things that had happened to them in the past two years.

But she knew one thing, She would make sure her husband got help, no matter what. This was his last chance before she would step in, and if that were to happen, it wouldn't just be close friends knowing about the problem but everyone of these fans watching him, their idol, walking gracefully to success.

She felt his arm tighten around her waist and she looked up to find him looking down at her with adoring eyes, she couldn't help but smile back, he bent down for a loving kiss and continued walking towards the premiere, never letting her go, holding onto as if life depended on it.

The thought of hurting him hurt her more than imaginable, but she loved him, and she would do anything to save him, even from himself.

**Alrighty, so what do you think? Should I continue? I'd develp Dariens character more in later chapters I just wanted to give background in this. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Happily never after

**Authors note: alright, so happy that the first chapter received good reviews and apparently it's well liked. Hope I can keep the story to your expectations or a little higher thanks for reading, pleas review!**

**TropicalRemix : thank you for your review and I'm afraid all I can tell you is that, the answer to your question will be revealed in time. **

Chapter 2 – Happily never after

Serena is awakened by the small butterfly kisses Darien is trailing down her shoulders. She lets out a satisfied sigh and opened her eyes turning to her lover. They shared a knowing smile and he leaned down for a kiss.

The premiere had gone better than planned, but what had Serena in such a good mood was the fact that her husband had spent the whole night celebrating with her, no drugs, no alcohol and no Diamond.

They shared a few more kisses before Serena insisted that they get out of bed and begin their day. He gave a defiant sigh as she crawled out of bed and searched for her outfit of the day.

"Uh, but why? I have the day off, so I think you should just call in sick and spend the day here. In bed. With me." His gorgeous blue eyes gave her a dangerously tempting look but she merely giggled it off.

She walked to his side of the bed and sat down looking at him with his messy bed head and school boy grin.

"As much as I would love to, I have a very important meeting today that could be life or death for the fashion line." She leaned down and gave him a kiss before returning to getting dressed.

He sighed defeated and then forced himself out of bed and found his pants. He stopped behind her as she put her jewelry on catching her eyes in the mirror as he held her waist back to him possessive and lovingly.

She smiled at his reflection and he responded with a short kiss to the nape of her neck.

"Fine, I'm defeated. Work comes first." He said with a play frown. He then turned her to face him and the frown morphed into a huge grin.

"But when you come home tonight, we are going to go out, have a great time, and then come home and …have an even greater time." With those words she kissed her lips in the middle of her giggle and went to find his own clothing for the day.

"It's a deal!" She said brightly. Things were good. All of her thoughts from the past week seemed to almost completely fade. Did she really have her husband back? God, she hoped so.

**O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Serena arrived to work with a huge smile on her face. She couldn't help but feel a little happy over the past events.

"Well aren't you little miss sunshine this morning?" Her good mood didn't go unnoticed by Seiya and their meeting.

"Is that a crime?" Her smile had yet to fade. 

"No, on the contrary, I'm glad to see you this way. You've seemed a little down lately." It was funny how she'd only known Seiya for about a month but in that month he'd become a great friend. Sometimes it seemed like he would always see through her façade. It was nice though, having a friend near, Mina was just recently married so most of her time was spent with the hubby. Not that Serena minded, she thought it was wonderful. Rei was overseas with work, Lita and Ami were both busy with work.

Seiya was really the only one who could be there at times. Though she knew she would never tell him about the troubles at home, she could always count on him for a good laugh.

"Yah, well things are looking up now."

"Good, I'm glad." And he was, she could see it in his eyes, she felt a moment of gratitude to have such a great friend in her life.

"Am I interrupting?" a monotone voice from behind startled Serena and she tore her eyes from her friend only to meet the emotionless deep blue eyes of her lover.

"Darien" Her voice sounded pleasantly surprised as her smile grew bigger at the site of him.

He leaned against the door way and his emotionless face turned into his sexy smirk as he looked to her. He was wearing black slacks with a loose black button up top that matched the shade of his free falling hair. A dozen red roses in hand.

"Hello gorgeous." He then looked back at Seiya with daring eyes.

"Darien? Well it's nice to finally meet you! I'm Seiya." Seiya rose from his seat and walked over to Darien extending his hand awaiting a shake.

Darien looked down at the hand and hesitantly before accepting the gesture.

"Yes, I heard about you, Serena say's your helping with the company." Serena could tell that Darien was trying to do his best to be nice, he never liked her being around other men. Other than the last time he never actually went in a jealous rage, he just knew that other men looked at her, and thought about her, in ways only he should. Serena was oblivious to her effect on men but her husband was well aware.

"Well I'll leave you two alone." Seiya sensed he was unwanted and took his leave.

Serena stood up and walked over to her charmingly handsome husband and gave him a kiss.

All of his thoughts of Seiya were erased and his attention was brought back to the beauty he had set out to see.

"What's all this for?"

"Can't a man just come surprise his wife with a dozen roses and take her out to lunch during her break?" For a moment Serena saw the charmer who had convinced her to marry him so long ago.

She giggled and took the roses and asked her assistant to find a vase and water for them. They smelt divine, she felt absolutely spoilt.

They went to a near little restaurant near her building knowing that she didn't have too long to spare. It was filled with flirting and laughter.

They finished their lunch and found that she still had some time to kill.

"hmm, what could we do with this time?" She asked raising a suggestive eyebrow.

Her husband gave a knowing smirk and played along. "Well, let's see" he looked around them as they walked out onto the sidewalk examining their surroundings. "Hmm, well, there isn't enough time for a movie….hmm what else." He playfully seemed to be in deep thought as they began to walk back towards her building

She just giggled and pulled him down into a short passionate kiss. "Does this office of yours have a lock?"

She smiled and pulled him towards the elevators, they stood hand in hand in the crowded elevator stealing knowing and guilty glances at each other. Once they reached her floor they walked fast to her office but tried to appear formal.

Once they both entered her office and she closed and locked the door he had her pinned to the door before she could even glance his way.

Trapped in his passionate kiss she could feel his need for her through the kiss, his want, his desire. And she felt the same; she kissed him back with just as much passion. They were both fighting for control. After so many months of the way things had been, they wanted to feel again. They wanted to put it all behind them and only look to the future, one where they were together and happy.

She had his shirt off in no time and he was almost done with hers. It was only a matter of seconds before they were both in their underwear caressing each other with need and want. He dragged her over to her desk and set her sitting on the edge.

They shared a loving moment, just looking into each other's eyes. Neither willing to speak but both saying so much silently being understood. Darien moved down to begin another passionate kiss just as her intercom buzzed.

"uh, can you ignore that?" He looked like a little kid begging five more minutes.

"Unfortunately, no, it could be important, but if it's not then we can continue where we left off."

"Now there's a thought." He reluctantly released her so that she could answer.

"Yes?" Serena's voice turned to a business tone, so serious and refined, it kind of turned him on.

"I'm sorry to bother you Mrs. Shields but your father is on the line, he says it's urgent." This had them both at attention. What could be so urgent?

"Ok, thank you, please put me through." With that Serena took a seat in her chair and returned to her business posture, Darien would have taken her seriously were she not still only in her bra and panties.

"Hello Daddy….what's wrong?...what? how?... ok yes, I understand….I'll see you then." The conversation was short but to the point. Serena hung up with a sigh and brought her hands to her now aching head.

"What's wrong?"

"It seems that some of our new designs that have been released were not our at all, Fonders Corp. is saying that they were theirs and we stole them. They've already assembled a team of lawyers to sue."

Way to ruin the moment. Darien took the news in as Serena assembled her clothing and redressed. Darien followed her lead.

"Is it true?"

"I don't know." She was frustrated now.

"Well how would this have happened?" He could see that this had her worried and he hated seeing her like this, he only wished he could ease her stress.

"I'm not sure, there will have to be an internal investigation, Daddy's flying out tomorrow to see to it personally."

"Well that's good, you shouldn't take this on alone. Baby please don't stress."

She could only smile at him as he held her to him trying to comfort her, oh how she had missed this side of him.

There was a knock at the door and Seiya walked in. Stopped in his steps when he saw the position the two were in and frantically apologized as he set a few files on her desk and left.

They both stood staring at the spot he had been standing before separating and saying their farewells.

"I'll see you at home tonight." She gave him a weak smile

"yes, Please try not to stress, I'll give you a nice massage when you get home, just look forward to that. I love you." And with that he walked out of her office leaving her to gather her thoughts on the new task at hand.

He reached the elevator just before it closed. To his surprise he was alone save one person, Seiya. They shared an awkward glance and held silence for a few moments.

"She deserves to be happy." Seiya's voice broke the silence.

Darien looked at him, wondering what he could be suggesting.

"Excuse me?" His voice was defensive but held a strong threat itself.

"Serena, she deserves to be happy. I'm just saying, she hasn't seemed very happy lately." Seiya continued to stare at the number's counting down floors, refusing to look Darien in the eye.

Darien turned his body to face Seiya by this point. "What exactly are you implying?"

Seiya then turned to Darien with stubborn threatening eyes. "I know she didn't get that cut on her cheek from falling, I know that she's been depressed lately, and I know that every time someone seems to mention you, she become frigid, almost as if she's got a big secret. I'm not implying anything, except that she isn't happy."

Darien's fist began to clench. "Really now? And you think that you could make her happy?" He saw a little raise of Seiya's eyebrows and became close to losing it.

"I'll be the first to admit we've had our problems but I sure as hell don't have to explain myself to you, I love my wife and she loves me. She's happy with me. So stay the hell out of it and stay the hell away from her!" Darien's face was only inches away from Seiya's at this point.

Seiya looked him in the eye and gave a short smirk. "Watch yourself Mr. Sheilds." The bell dinged just in time and Seiya moved out as the doors opened before Darien could get in any last words.

Darien could only stand there for a moment in complete aw. The guy had guts he'd give him that. So it seemed the games were on, he made his move and Darien would make sure he never got a chance to make another. He walked home with plans of asking Serena to find a new business partner when she came home.

Little did he know Seiya was the least of his troubles….

**O0o0o0o0o0-o**

The rest of her day was full of stress and panic. The news of the law suit had her stressed like no other.

How is this happening, why is this happening!

Seiya had come to her office shortly after Darien had taken his leave. She told him about the events to unfold and his reaction was very similar to hers.

"This is crazy, somethings up with this. Fonders must be setting us up somehow." He leaned his hands on her desk and looked at her with serious eyes. "There must be a spy, either they submitted the copied designs or the original designs were leaked and Fonders is using that to their advantage."

"That's quite the conspiracy theory, but I don't know, we'll have an internal investigation starting tomorrow, so me a favor though, and don't tell anyone else, if this news leaks we may never get to the bottom of it." She stood up and started gathering her things.

"Of course…you leaving?" He looked a little disappointed but hid it quickly when she looked towards him.

"Yah, It's been such a busy day. I want nothing more than to go home, relax with my husband and worry about all of this tomorrow."

"How long have you and Darien been together?"

This question made her pause, it was definitely unexpected. "Um, we've been married for about two years, together for five. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, I was just wondering, you guys act like newlyweds still, that's all." He gave her a playful smile and she gladly returned it.

"Yah, well, things have been going good lately. I'm grateful to have him. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that she took her leave.

She was able to get home in less than an hour which surprised her considering the usual L.A. traffic. As she pulled into her driveway she noticed an unfamiliar black mustang was parked in her usual spot. She parked on the road and made her way up the drive way sparing a few moments to examine the intruding car.

She opened the door and saw a pair bright red pumps by the door. Those were definitely not hers….

She took a deep breath and held it in for a second. _Stop being paranoid…he came to visit you at work….there's no way he'd have an affair. All of the past troubles are just getting to you. _

She let the trapped breath out feeling a little guilty for her initial thoughts.

She took a few steps forward heading to the living room where she assumed the unknown guest would be waiting with Darien but before she could even turn the corner she came almost walked right into a crying obviously distraught girl.

Taken aback by the girls emotions she only stood there wondering what to do. The girl stopped before her head in hands shaking her head back and forth.

Serena was beyond confused by now…

"um…" was all she could manage to get out.

Then the girl threw her hands down and looked straight into Serena's eyes with a look of hatred and displeasure.

It took a moment but Serena soon began to recognize the girl underneath the smeared mascara…

"Ann?" her voice rose with unbelief. "What the hell are you doing here."

"Ask your husband!" she spat at the word husband and before Serena could get another word out, Ann was storming out the from door, with her pumps in hand.

Serena could only stand in her place for a moment watching Ann's retreating figure. What was going on.

She finally forced her feet to move and she entered the living room with determination.

In the room Darien was sitting on the coach head in his hands. He heard her come in but he refused to look up at him.

Serena herself admitted she was afraid of asking him. She looked to the coffee table and saw a manila envelope and she reached for it wondering if it would answer her unvoiced question.

"Darien, does this have anything to do with why Ann was in our house?" her voice was slow and monotone, she tried not to reveal any emotion until she knew the truth.

He looked up from his hands and his gazed lingered on the envelope in her hand before it reached her. She could see he was distressed, he was on the verge of tears.

She looked at the envelope as if it were dead body. She couldn't look at Darien until she knew what was going on.

She slowly opened the top and reached in to pull two black pictures…no not pictures…they were sonograms…. Of a baby….

Serena let out a chocking sound trying to hold back her fears…._No, it's not true…_

"Darien…." Her voice was weak and she could only get one word in at a time between breaths.

"tell me this isn't your baby. Tell me you didn't sleep with Ann?"

She then forced herself to look him in the face, her tears fighting to escape but she held them back hoping to appear strong.

He looked at her again and the tears fell freely from his eyes, his eyes were pleading with her, holding apologies.

He tired to speak but no words came out until a few more tries.

"I, I don't know…. I don't remember."

And with that Serena's tears ran freely without a blink and she felt her whole word crash in front of her.

**Authors note. Alrighty, well some of you saw this coming sort of. Hope this is still going good for you guys thanks for the reviews and reads!**


	3. and it all comes crashing down

Chapter 3 – and it all comes crashing down

Serena felt her whole body surrender as the tears ran down her face. Her legs began to surrender as she reached for the arm of the seat next to her in order to steady herself.

Darien reached out to help her steady herself but Serena pushed him away nearly falling backwards in the process.

"Stay away from me. I can't…I can't…" Serena couldn't find the strength to talk anymore. Darien knew that there was nothing left he could do in this moment. He needed to let her think through this, let her process the situation. All that was left for him to do was surrender; he held his eyes closed trying to hold himself together.

Serena sat on the love seat for almost an hour, she looked over to her husband, seeing how terrible he looked. He looked forward avoiding her gaze. His eyes were red and puffy, he was rubbing his hands together as if he was cold. She realized that in this moment, he looked old.

This was the man she fell in love with all those years ago, the man who taught her to love, who made her smile, he made her laugh more than she ever had before, and this is the man who has torn her into little pieces.

**O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

It was the sound of birds chirping that woke her in the morning. The sun was shining in through the window, she had been so distracted last night that she had forgotten to close the binds before bed.

The morning seemed perfect, the most tranquil way to wake. As her eyes began to flutter open, she felt as if something was wrong. And then all of the memories from the night before came crashing back.

She sat up bringing her hands to her eyes, they were sore from all the tears she had shed. There was a water stain on her pillow from the tears that had fallen during her sleep.

Never before had she felt so weak. She had been an independent woman before, no man could control her life, and yet now, she's allowed one to crush her.

Numbly Serena stepped out of bed and gathered her work clothes and began getting ready for work. Almost felt as if she was only going through the motions by this point.

She washed all of last night's make-up off and reapplied it for today, hoping to hide the bags under her eyes. Today she looked old.

Stepping down the stairs she found the blanket Darien had been using last night when he slept on the couch. She only had to tell him that she was going to bed, for a moment she wasn't sure if he would follow her, until she heard him opening the cabinet they kept the extra blankets and pillows in for when guests stay. Part of her felt a sense of relief, another part became disappointed.

She leaned down to grab the blanket and folded it as she walked towards the cabinet it came from. She heard footsteps behind her, knowing who it was she took a deep breath before turning around facing the man she's been dreading to see since she opened her eyes this morning.

"Serena" his voice cracked a bit. He was holding out her favorite coffee mug towards her, she could smell the caramel coming from it. She loved having caramel in her coffee in the morning.

She looked up and walked passed Darien ignoring the coffee he was offering. She could only ignore the look of hurt on his face and she continued to the door grabbing her purse.

Seeing her grab her bag and keys Darien quickly put the coffee mug down on the table near the sofa.

"You're going into work? I thought today was your day off?"

Serena took another deep breath before turning to face him.

"It was, but since the law suit came up yesterday I have to go in and lead the investigation."

Darien nodded his head remember the call she had gotten from her father the day before.

"Right, I'm sorry, I forgot…..what time will you be home?" He looked at her putting his hands in his back pocket looking like a teenager asking a girl out for the first time.

"I'm not sure, hopefully before 9." Though part of her was scared to come back at all, knowing that they would have to face their situation as soon as she stepped back in through that door.

"Good, ok, um….I was hoping we could talk when you get home, about…you know." And there it was

"Yah, that's probably a good idea." Serena opened the door taking a quick step out trying to stop herself from looking back to him before shutting it closed. She just couldn't help herself, force of habit. He looked to her knowing she didn't want to come back, almost as if he didn't believe that she would be back again.

"I'll see you at 9" It was all she could give him.

Darien could only nod as she walked out the door.

**O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Serena had to take a moment to compose herself before stepping into her building. Today of all days she needed to appear professional.

Walking towards her office her secretary began to flag her down.

"Mrs. Shields, your father got an earlier flight and arrived half an hour ago. He's waiting in your office."

"Thank you Molly."

As she opened her office door, the seat behind her desk began to spin in order to face her. That face never ceased to put a smile on hers.

"Daddy, it's good to see you!" Going into a short run she hugged her father with all her might. She hadn't seen him since last Christmas.

"Whoa there pumpkin, I'm not as young as I used to be" His laugh was still as contagious as ever.

"Sorry" in that moment she became a little kid again, ribbons in her pigtails and a chubby cheeked smile.

"So how are things?" Her father took his seat again, she took a moment to look him over, his hair had turned completely gray, his eyes were blue but held less life than they once had, it seemed that today she could only see how old everyone she loves is becoming, how close life is to becoming nothing but despair.

"I've contacted our lawyers, they say that if we can prove we've had no contact with the other designer we'll have a good chance of getting off of this clean, though they want us to do a deep background check on the employee who submitted the designs in the first place, which is a great idea, Seiya is doing all of that as we speak."

Her father pursed his lips for a moment and released a long sigh.

"Sounds like there is nothing else we can do about this at the moment then, however I wasn't talking about work when I asked how things were." He gave her the look she used to get all those years ago as a child, when she'd been out to a place her father disapproved, lied about eating the candy that was kept in the highest shelf, or the time she's let her cousin believe there was a ghost in the toilet for a week.

Putting on her best smile. "Everything's fine, daddy. Why do ask?"

Reaching into his brief case and pulled out a wadded up magazine.

FAIRYTALE'S OVER: DARIEN SHIELDS CHEATS ON WIFE SERENA SHIELDS, AND WHATS THIS ABOUT A BABY, SPOILER ALERT, IT'S NOT HIS WIFES.

The cover had a picture of them from their wedding on one side and one of Darien drunk at a party at another. In the bottom right corner there was a little bubble with the same sonogram picture that had been in the envelope from last night.

"Where did you get this" the tears were starting to form once again.

"They were starting to put them out when I landed at the airport this morning. I know the press can exaggerate quite a bit, so I'm asking you. Is there something you need to tell me?"

He looked at her and she knew, no matter who ever comes into her life, her daddy will always be her knight in shining armor.

Being the good little wife that she was however, she felt the strongest need to protect Darien from her father's anger.

"These are all just rumors daddy, nothing to worry about; Darien warned me last night stuff like this may come out. I trust him." Oddly enough, Serena began to feel like she even meant the words she said.

Her father accepted her response, nodding.

"Well even so, this must be stressful for you especially on top of work. Let me handle the office today, you go home and rest."

Normally Serena would say no, it's her duty to look after her company, however she didn't feel like she could do the company much good today, especially after seeing the cover of the magazine.

"Thanks Daddy!"

They shared a big hug and kiss on the cheek, promised to have a breakfast tomorrow, and said their goodbyes.

Walking out, Serena informed Molly that her father would be taking over for her today and to send any business calls his way for the rest of the day.

The elevator ride down seemed to last forever, until the doors finally opened , she almost didn't see who was waiting to enter the elevator as she exited.

"Serena!" Seiya had to wave his hands in front of her in order to get her attention.

"Hey Seiya, you heading up to work?" She tried to sound as calm and casual as possible.

"Yah, to see you actually, I have some information about our employee who submitted the design."

"Oh, well I'm actually leaving for the day, my father is taking over today, He's in my office, please tell him anything you've found out."

"Of course, you ok?" The way he looked at her in that moment reminded her of how Darien used to look at her.

"Yes I'm fine, thanks, just a bit tired."

He nodded and entered the elevator pushing the button for the 10th floor. Before the doors could close all the way she heard him say. "You could do better"

She didn't even have time to take in his words before a hand grabbed her shoulders turning her around to face her attacker.

"WHAT THE F IS THIS?" the tabloid cover was shoved in her face to the point where she could smell the ink.

"Hey, Lita." The brunette, looked like she was ready to kill.

"I'll kill him Serena, but first I'll cut his limbs off one by one, just say the word!"

Lita always had the tendency to be a tough girl. Her reaction to the news however had Serena in a small fit of giggles.

"Thanks Lita, it was nice to laugh."

Little looked at her with caring eyes. "I wasn't joking, anyway I came here because I thought you might like to let off a little steam."

Serena's eyes went huge. The last time Lita had suggested she let off some steam they had pretty much gone through a military training.

"Uhhhh…."

"She doesn't need a work out Lita." The two girls turned to find Mina, Rae, and Amy all standing together smiling at the two.

"She needs a drink." Mina gave Serena a little wink.

Boy was Mina right.

**O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o**

Darien didn't know what to do with himself. He felt terrible. He loved Serena with all of his heart, how could he screw this up.

Looking at the clock, he knew he at least had 3 hours before Serena would be back, and that would only be if she was early.

So he did what he did best, he went in to work.

He was between projects right now, but he thought it best to talk to Diamond about what's going on now before it blows up into something bigger.

Pulling into Diamonds office building Darien was ready for the fireworks, this could ruin his career, but somehow all he cared about was the fact that it could ruin his marriage.

Darien greeted the lady at the front desk of the building only to be given a glare in return.

He was a little taken aback since she always greeted him with such energy. Then he looked to her desk and saw a tabloid, with his picture and Serena's and a picture of the sonogram. Shit.

He grabbed the magazine from her desk and began to storm towards Diamonds office.

Diamond's secretary was away for lunch, so Darien took it on himself to let himself in, he saw that the door was cracked open and put his hand to it ready to push it open when her heard a voice, one he recognized all too well.

"I have him doubting himself, His wife doesn't trust him anymore, and now neither does his fans. We've won Diamond." Anne's voice was high pitched and painful on the ears.

"That's my girl. He'll be running to me in no time, once the world turns their backs on him, I'll be the only one he has left, and I will be the one to control him." Through the crack Darien could see Diamond smile before grabbing Anne's face and giving her a passionate kiss.

Darien knew at that moment, he had to find Serena, and a new agent.

**Authors note: Sorry it's been so long since I've written, no good excuses. Shame on me, hope you like this chapter, hopefully I haven't lost my ability to write a good story! **


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